And There Was One
by controlfreaque
Summary: 200 years after Neo died, the war still continues. Artemis, captain of the Daedalus, is determined to find the One so he may save the human race at last.
1. Agents

AND THERE WAS ONE  
  
Disclaimer: I didn't make up Agent Jones or the Matrix, but I did create all the other characters in this chapter.  
  
CHAPTER 1: AGENTS  
  
Running used to be an enjoyable sport for Artemis. She was even on track at her high school. The wind in her face, she would sprint towards her goal: the beautiful red ribbon. It was a reasonable target. But a phone booth in an alley some 20 blocks away? It was moments like this one that made her wonder why the hell Artemis took the red pill, why she chose to be unplugged. She could have been one of the coppertops she was passing. An old man walking his dog. Nothing simpler than that. Until the old man morphed into Agent Jones, who raised a gun and fired. The shot was a miss but it was close enough. Artemis picked up speed. She was now running about forty miles an hour. Just three more blocks, she told herself. This isn't fatigue. My brain is making me think it's fatigue. In reality, Artemis was back on the Daedalus, jacked in and a fresh cup of glop waiting for her. Glop. That's something to look forward to.  
  
Artemis leaped into the booth as the phone began to ring. She picked it up. "Box, get me the hell out of here," Artemis muttered as she watched Agent Jones jump over a passing semi-truck with ease. Then she was back in the chair.  
  
Box unstrapped Artemis and she slowly stood up. Box looked at her, his face showed concern. "What went wrong?"  
  
"I don't know." Artemis rubbed her hands together. "I was trying to locate- him. And an agent jumped out and tried to shoot at me. I swear to God, they get closer every time." She rubbed her arm where the bullet had sped past her. Box handed her a wool cap which she pulled over her six- inch hair. Artemis moved swiftly to the computer and stared hard at the screen. "Why hasn't he come back yet? Where could he be?"  
  
Box softly touched her shoulder. "We'll find him. This Goddamn war can't last forever." Artemis felt eternally grateful for his sympathy. 'He may only have known me for two years,' Artemis thought. 'But it's like he knows me front to back.' Box turned the desk lamp off and pushed his chair in. "C'mon, it's time for lunch. I know you're hungry." 'Damn, he's good. Front to back, alright'. Artemis followed him down to the galley.  
  
At that moment, a coppertop named Mark Lucas had logged into his computer. He had two new e-mails, both from someone he met on some chat room, called Artemis. Both where addressed to his own chosen name, Korby. He glanced at the subjects: "Matrix" and "They have you" were not unfamiliar to him. Korby had received messages like this before, after he had discussed a thing called the Matrix in that chat room. He sipped his tea. It needed sugar, but never mind that now. He clicked on the message titled "Matrix". 


	2. Retrieval

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own the One, Trinity, the Oracle, Neo or the Matrix, but I did create all other characters in this chapter. CHAPTER 2: Retrieval  
  
Artemis finished her bowl of glop and it on the table. She wordlessly left the galley, something was obviously on her mind. Her crew sat around the table, too shocked to speak. Gaim and Tara silently continued eating. Reboot shifted his eyes to Box, who looked into his empty bowl. Strike stood up to follow her captain, but Box pulled her back. "Let her go. You know what's wrong, and you know how to help her deal with it: you just try not to help at all."  
  
Gaim looked up. "She's upset about the One?"  
  
"Yes," Reboot said. "You can't blame her. She's been waiting four years to find him. Anyone would be disappointed as her." He rinsed his bowl in the nearby sink. "The Oracle told her, promised her, that she would find him around this time."  
  
Strike glanced to the doorway that Artemis had walked through. Box noticed and said, "I know how racking it is to see her upset like that, but you have to let her go."  
  
Artemis sat on her cot, stared at the wall. 200 years. The war had lasted 200 years. What was taking him so long? Wasn't she supposed to find him? Wasn't the end of the war nearing? Hadn't the Oracle told her so?  
  
(*flashback*)  
  
The Oracle set her tea on the table and looked straight through Artemis' eyes. "So, you do know who you are, right?"  
  
Artemis shrugged. "I've only just found out that I was a living battery- if you could call it living. Is that what you meant?"  
  
The old woman chuckled to herself. "No, that's not what I meant. I meant in your past life."  
  
"My past life?"  
  
"Yes. You have heard of the One, yes? Well, in your previous life, you fell in love with him. You also fell in love with him 200 years ago, when his name was Neo. Do you know what your name was?  
  
Artemis racked her brain. What was the name of that woman? "Ummm. No."  
  
"Her name was Trinity. You also have fallen in love with the one. It is your destiny, and the loop with continue until the end of the war."  
  
Artemis' face fell. "You mean that the war won't end in my lifetime?"  
  
"Oh, I can't tell you that, my dear. You'll have to find that out for yourself."  
  
A knock on the door. It was small, not really a knock but a tap, yet it was big enough to wake Artemis out of her trance.  
  
"Captain?" It was Box. "Captain? Are you okay?"  
  
"Box, you call me Artemis, I don't want to hear any more of this formal crap. Yes, I'm fine. What is it?"  
  
"Reboot and Tara are jacked in. All we're waiting for is you, and Strike."  
  
"Strike? What's wrong with her?"  
  
"She needs to know if you're okay. God, sometimes I swear she has a crush on you or something."  
  
Artemis stepped out of her cabin and rolled her eyes. "That's not funny, Box. Let's just go and get Korby out." 


	3. Reality

Disclaimer: I don't own the Matrix, but I did create all the characters in this chapter.  
  
CHAPTER 3: Reality  
Strike sat in a chair near the table, watching Korby as he slowly healed. He was taking long, but it wasn't his fault: squiddies show no mercy to rookie jacks. However, he was recovering well, although he still hadn't woken up. Strike hadn't seen what Korby had seen when he was unplugged- but it was enough to make her want to stay asleep when she was unplugged. It may have even been the reason why he was crying. Tears. He had never cried before. Strike was mesmerized, watching the sleeping man cry. He was a virgin of tears. And Strike was witnessing his deflowering.  
  
She had also noticed his smooth face, almost perfectly proportioned, except that his ears were a little crooked. Still, he was beautiful. Strike had always thought that she liked only women romantically, and she never had a crush on a boy. Yet here was an attraction. She stared at his closed eyes, wondered what color they were. When he had first arrived, he was completely clean and naked. And although Strike didn't think much of it then, she couldn't resist: she looked him over. She turned away, her face scarlet with crimson shame. Thank God no one else was in the room. Except Korby. Korby.  
  
Artemis walked in that moment. "Is he getting better?"  
  
"He's still asleep. I think he'll wake up in an hour or two."  
  
"Well, tell him to get a move on. What about his legs? Are they getting better?"  
  
"Yes. Like I said, he'll be fine in an hour. He might even be walking by then."  
  
"Well, when he does give him some clothes and a blanket; the ship will get pretty cold for a while.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Artemis walked over to the sleeping Korby and poked at one of the needles on his chest very scientifically. "Squiddy Zone." Artemis heard Strike let out a "Damn" but she ignored it. "We'll be passing a possible nest of Squiddies in a couple of hours."  
  
Strike stood up and began to remove the needles; she would need to work quickly if he was to wake soon. Oh, what a surprise he's in for. First two minutes awake- ever- and he's going to have a first experience with squiddies. She sighed and looked at him. "Welcome to reality, kid." 


	4. Surge

Disclaimer: I don't own the matrix, or the One but I did make all the other characters in this chapter.  
  
CHAPTER 4: Surge  
Artemis opened her eyes as Box unplugged her and Korby. She sat up and looked at Korby, rubbing her face. They had just finished a training session and he had hit her pretty hard. "You weren't kidding when you said that you were a boxer in high school."  
  
Korby winked at her and slid out of the chair. "Maybe you could show me some more moves after lunch."  
  
"Korby, I told you- you know the moves, you just need to do them. We will practice after lunch no matter what. Today, you'll be trying the Jump."  
  
The jack grinned at her and ran off to the galley. "You'd never believe that it was a whole month ago that he was in his cabin, crying in disbelief. Now he can take on the whole damn Matrix."  
  
Box stepped in front of her and folded his arms. "The Matrix is one thing. An agent is another."  
  
"Yeah," Artemis said. "Any word on you-know-who?"  
  
"Actually-"  
  
Artemis' heart skipped a beat and she looked up.  
  
"Yes. I think we may have found him."  
  
"Where? What's his name?"  
  
"He's living in New York. His given name is Robert Chance and his chosen name is Surge.  
  
"And you think he is the One?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
No matter how excited Artemis was about Surge, she had to take Korby on his jump. Gaim had designed the program. Most designs are set in the city atop tall skyscrapers and you had to jump from one to the other. This one was set on a cliff face. It could be used for training in three levers: jump across the ravine, jump from hanging on the side of the cliff, jump from the bottom of the ravine.  
  
Korby scanned the horizon. He turned to Artemis and gulped. "What should I do?"  
  
Artemis readjusted her crooked shades. "You jump. This is the hardest test for a rookie. You have to jump from here- " she pointed at the ground "-to there." And she pointed to the other cliff, which was 200 meters away. Korby sharply inhaled. "Without falling. The key is to remember this: free you mind. Once you can do that, anything in the Matrix is possible. Free your mind."  
  
With that, she jumped across the ravine and landed safely on the other cliff. She turned to look at Korby expectantly.  
  
Later at dinner, Korby looked very upset. Artemis tried to explain, but Strike got there first. "Korby, nobody makes their first jump. We didn't expect you to. The good thing is, you tried. Because you tried, you learned something. We're proud of you for that."  
  
Artemis stared at Strike. She'd never talk this way to a rookie. Strike usually treated them like dirt until a new recruit came in. Why was she being so nice to Korby?  
  
But Strike had already left the galley. 


	5. Power Surge

Disclaimer: I don't own the Matrix, but I did create Surge.  
  
CHAPTER 5: Power Surge  
Surge sat at his desk looking at his computer. Those weird e-mails had come again. He blinked his eyes and clicked on the first message. "Surge," it said. "The Matrix has you. We need you. Turn off all your lights and close your blinds. Lock your doors. They are watching you."  
  
Surge thought, 'Jesus, why are they telling me to do this?' But he turned off all his lights, locked his door and closed the blinds. Suddenly, a new message appeared on the screen. It said 'Now.' He clicked on it and almost instantly the lights came on in his house. It was almost blinding, until the apartment was washed in complete darkness: a fuse had blown.  
  
"Damn!" Surge pounded fist into his chair and felt around his room for a flashlight. Why did he have to live in such a crappy apartment. His landlady insisted that he come home before two am, or else she wouldn't let him into the building. He couldn't smoke in the building because it might smell. Not that his apartment didn't smell like something awful anyway. Surge really needed a smoke. He remembered that he had put his lighter in his coat pocket and he felt his way to the coat rack. Suddenly, a blue light came on in the room. He turned around, and saw that it was coming from his computer. He walked to his desk and sat down. Absentmindedly, he flipped the switch on his desk lamp, but it didn't come on. The power didn't work. Except for his computer. There was a single message on the screen. He clicked on it and read the six words that sent a chill up his spine:  
  
"We're coming to get you out." 


	6. Bug

Disclaimer: I didn't create Agent Jones or the Matrix, but I did create Artemis and Surge.  
  
CHAPTER 6: Bug  
  
Surge stood on the corner of fifth and Center Street, where he was told to wait for a big, black car. It was 4:30 am, and raining like hell. Surge pulled out his cigarettes and lit one. He enjoyed five fine minutes of tobacco and nicotine, but as he flicked the butt into the gutters, he knew that he should quit. He got wetter and wetter as he got more and more pissed off. "It's way too frigging early to be doing this. Besides, it was probably just a prank." He knew that it wasn't, but he wanted to believe it. Just like he wanted to believe that the world was normal, and it was just his problem. Ever since he was young, he had felt like the world was messed up, like a computer program with a virus. And recently, he had joined a message board and met another person who felt the same way. Artemis. She had told him that his feelings made sense, that they might be true. Now, she was telling him that they are true, and she can prove it. And she had, so far. She had proven that the world was so goddamn messed up, that people would make him wait in the early hours of the morning for a stupid black car!  
"That's it. TAXI!" He waved his arm and whistled for a cab. It pulled up beside him, just as a big, black car drove up behind it. Surge started to say, "Never mind," but a man inside pulled him in. The man was wearing a brown suit, and carried a briefcase. He wore sunglasses. That was very odd, but Surge was too angry to care. "What the hell did you do that for?!"  
  
"For your protection, Mr. Chance. Drive." He had a small smirk on his face. Surge noticed that a cord came up the side of his neck and into a hearing aid or something. He had a platinum Rolex on his left wrist and no wedding ring. His hair was neatly parted on the side and Surge could not see through his glasses. "I did that for your own safety, Mr. Chance. You are in great danger."  
  
"How did you know my name?"  
  
"That isn't important. I want to confirm that you have been in contact with a terrorist who's alias is 'Artemis'?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Mr. Chance, allow me to introduce myself. You may call me Agent Jones. I can help you with your- " his right eyebrow raised, "Problems."  
  
The cabbie pulled over in front of a tall building. Agent Jones led Surge inside and up the stairs. At last, they reached a padded room with a mirror on one wall. There was a table in the middle of the room, and two chairs, one at either end of the table. Jones motioned for Surge to sit in one of these chairs, as two more agents entered that room and closed the door, locking it. Surge did not sit. He simply glared at Agent Jones.  
  
"Is something wrong, Mr. Chance?"  
  
"You tell me. I was waiting to meet a friend when I was kidnapped by someone claiming to be a government agent when I don't even think that there is a branch of the government like this. What's wrong with that?"  
  
"Mr. Chance, why (if you were indeed waiting for this 'friend' of yours) did you need a cab? And did I ever say that I belonged to the government? Your government, that is." What the hell was he talking about? Agent Jones opened his briefcase and pulled out some important- looking documents. "We are the government. You asked how I knew your name? Well, we know many things about you, Mr. Chance. We know that when you were seven, you ran away from home. You run a successful record shop, and you have no girlfriend. We also know your alias, Surge. According to the record, you have hacked into twelve government databases. You are also an affiliate to the notorious terrorist called Artemis. That is a dangerous lifestyle, Mr. Chance. Are you happy with both of your lives? We aren't. In fact, only one of them is lawful in our eyes. Do you know which one that might be?"  
  
Surge stood up and spat on the padded floor. He opened up his pack of cigarettes and took one out. "Personally, I don't give a shit. Can I smoke in here?"  
  
The agent looked at Surge with a gleam in his eyes. "Smoking is bad for your health, Mr. Chance."  
  
"What are you, my mother?" Surge put the cigarette in his mouth and struck a match from his matchbook. It immediately blew out. Surge stared at it, but tried again. This time the match stayed alight long enough to reach his mouth, but before he could light the cigarette, it blew out again. He had no matches left. He looked up at Agent Jones. "You got a light?"  
  
"Do you want a light, Mr. Chance?" There was a slight muscle spasm in Agent Jones' neck. He snapped his fingers and immediately the room exploded into flames. Surge yelled and dropped the cigarette. The agents walked over to where Surge was standing and pushed him onto the table. Jones snapped his fingers and the room went back to normal. Surge, however, kept screaming. The agents tore Surge's shirt off and held him to the table. Jones took something out of his pocket, but Surge couldn't see what it was.  
  
"Hold still, Mr. Chance. This will not be pleasant." And he held up the thing that he had taken out of his pocket. It looked like a weird electronic bug. It started to wriggle and it morphed into a spider. Surge screamed louder, but nobody heard him; at least no one cared. He kicked and punched but the agents somehow managed to dodge them. Jones dropped the spider onto Surge's bare chest, and it actually crawled into his naval.  
  
"Calm down, Mr. Chance!"  
  
But he couldn't calm down. He could actually feel it , feel it inside his skin. He didn't want to think about what it could do in there, what it might bite. He was screaming at the top of his lungs. He screamed until he couldn't scream anymore, and all he could hear was a buzzing in his ears.  
  
*BEEP! * BEEP! * BEEP! * BEEP!*  
  
It was all a dream. Robert sat up in his bed and turned his alarm clock off. He felt his stomach, expecting to find a lump where the spider had been. He breathed a great sigh of relief. No spider. He made his bed and checked his e-mail. There was a new message and he opened it.  
"Surge: We are afraid that you are no longer safe. Wait for Strike. She will tell you what to do."  
  
Surge felt his heart flip. Was it really just a dream? He closed the window and shut down the computer. He left for work as usual. He ate breakfast at the café as usual. He rode the same subway car to Manhattan as he always did. His morning went as normal as possible, up until ten forty-seven and fourteen seconds, when a tall woman wearing leather pants and mirrored shades entered his record shop. 


	7. The Split Path

Disclaimer: I don't own the Matrix, the red pill, the blue pill, but I did create Strike, Reboot, Artemis and Surge.  
  
CHAPTER 7: Split Path  
Strike stepped into the record store and walked up to the counter. She leaned over and whispered in Surge's ear. "I am a friend of Artemis'. Don't talk, just close up your shop and follow me. I'm going to get you out of here."  
  
"But it's only a quarter to eleven!"  
  
"Didn't I say not to talk? If you want to go through the same experience as you did last night, keep your shop open."  
  
Surge pouted like a grade-schooler but obeyed. In ten minutes the store was locked up and they were outside, looking at a black sedan. Strike opened the door and let him in. She got in behind him and slammed the door. She tapped the driver on the shoulder. "Reboot, drive." She pulled out a machine that looked like a futuristic vacuum. It had two vials on either end, and a computer screen on Strike's end. She turned it on and said, "My name is Strike. Take your shirt off."  
  
Surge stared at her, but she gave him a look that said, "Just do what I said!" He unbuttoned his shirt, but Strike sighed. "There's no time for that, give me." She ripped his shirt off and through it aside. "You're bugged. Hold still and don't look at it. This will not be fun for either of us."  
  
Surge held his breath as she placed one of the glass vials over his naval. In the rear view mirror, Surge could see what was on the screen. He almost yelled out loud, but caught himself just in time; in the mirror, he could see the spider.  
  
So could Strike. "Christ," she whispered. "Surge, keep holding your breath and try not to move. Lord, this is going to be a picnic." She pressed a button and Surge felt a pulling on his naval, but he didn't look. Strike glared at the spider on her screen. "Come on, you yellow bastard." The machine sucked something out and Strike turned it off. "Nasty. If you want to, you can look now."  
  
Surge slowly opened his eyes. All the breath he had held came out in a cry of surprise. The remains of the spider sat in the other glass tube. Strike twisted it off and through it out the window. They kept driving and Surge didn't look back.  
  
Meanwhile, Artemis was waiting in the abandoned apartment building she and her crew used as a meeting place. There were two brown leather chairs in the center of the room, and a coffee table in between the chairs. A glass of water had been set on the table. Artemis stood by the only window in the room, which was boarded up. She couldn't help but worry. What if he was bugged? What if they were caught by agents? She snuck a peek through one of the boards. All she could see were cars and houses. Each of them belonged to the coppertops. Poor coppertops. They all believed that their world was so advanced. They would soon find a cure for cancer. They were searching for intelligent extra-terrestrial life out in space. They had created the perfect machine. A.I. would solve all of their problems. It would clean the house, walk the dog, serve the humans. If only they knew.  
  
She quickly put her shades back on as Surge entered the room. She motioned for him to sit in one of the chairs and he did. She sat opposite him. She couldn't help but think that she couldn't possibly fall in love with him. She felt the pill case in her pocket. She looked at Surge. "Do you know why you're here?"  
  
"I was hoping you could tell me about the Matrix. Are you Artemis?"  
  
She smiled at him and said, "Yes. That is my name. You want to know the Truth?"  
  
"Yes. Yes, I do."  
  
"Well, I offer it. Do you understand everything we've told you so far, about the Matrix and about us?"  
  
"In your e-mails?" She nodded. "Yes. And, no. I just don't know what to think. I'm waiting for my alarm clock to ring and I'll wake up from this- dream, nightmare, whatever it is."  
  
Artemis took the pill case from her pocket and held it for him to see. She looked him in the eye. "You soon will. But what I can give you is a choice. Only a choice." She opened the box and held out two pills: one red, one blue.  
  
"Take the blue pill, and it will end here. You'll wake up in your bed tomorrow, free to believe whatever you wish to believe about the world.  
  
"Take the red pill, and I will open a door for you. This door will answer all of your questions about the world. So make your choice."  
  
Surge looked at each pill, thinking so hard it hurt. Which pill?  
  
"Remember: this choice is your split path. Once you choose a pill, there is no turning back. Be wise."  
  
Artemis tried to see into his mind. She tried to read what he was thinking. Which pill?  
  
But Surge couldn't see through her mirrored shades. He could only see himself, as he reached for the pill. He picked it up, looked at it. He took the glass of water and swallowed the pill. 


	8. Fin

Chapter 8: Fin (the only original character in this chapter is Chance)  
  
Neo jumped off the roof. His long coat rippled like a cape as he turned a somersault and landed on the ground, sending a shock wave twenty feet in every direction. Any ordinary man trying to jump the same distance would become a pancake in seconds. Neo, however, jumped up and sprinted toward the street. Agent Jones was tailing him closely, so Neo ran through into an abandoned building and locked the door. He knew that Agent Jones would burst through in a matter of seconds, so Neo pulled out his cell phone and dialed. "Operator? Please get me out of here, Link."  
  
Link's reply was so calm it stung Neo's ears. "Turn left and head up the stairs five flights. When you're done, turn left again and head down the hall about twenty feet. The phone is on a table. See you soon."  
  
Neo followed Link's instructions. At least he didn't need to worry about other crew members now. Morpheus was living with Niobe in Zion. He left shortly after the Nebuchadnezzar has been destroyed. Trinity was now the captain of the new ship, called the Daedalus. But Trinity wasn't with Neo, either. She had to stay on the ship, and look after the baby.  
  
As Neo climbed the last flight of stairs, he felt a little anxious. If there was any people in the building, they could become Agent Jones and Neo would be trapped. He hadn't heard any sounds from the Agents. Why hadn't they broken the door yet?  
  
Neo reached the top stair, and ran down the hallway. His son was only a few months old, but he would have to be trained to fight the machines. Chance couldn't enter the Matrix, because he was born without plugs. Neo hoped that the Matrix would end before Chance would even turn twelve.  
  
There's the phone. Neo sprinted towards it and waited for it to ring. But the phone made no sound. Neo heard the door burst open downstairs and he knew that it wouldn't be long before the Agents were in the hallway.  
  
"Ring, goddammit, RING!" But there was no friendly answer from the phone. Neo inhaled sharply, then he saw Agent Jones twenty feet away from him. Jones smiled slightly, and walked calmly towards Neo.  
  
Neo couldn't understand what was taking Link so long. He knew that he didn't have enough time to call Link on his cell phone, and he knew that he didn't have enough energy to fight.  
  
Jones was ten feet away. Now five. Jones raised the pistol and cocked it. Neo desperately grabbed the receiver and held it to his ear. Jones smiled widely. "Goodbye, Mr. Anderson." 


	9. Red

Chapter Nine: Red  
  
Surge opened his eyes. He was in some kind of operating room. He couldn't move. He could only look up at bright yellow lights. Surge squinted, then closed his eyes. What had happened to him? The last he remembered, he was in the red light. Red. Red pill! That woman (what was her name?) had offered Surge two pills, and he had taken the red one. Then she stood up, and took Surge into a room and she made him sit in a weird- looking chair. She told him some things that he didn't understand. And then something happened to him that he could not explain.  
  
Surge opened his eyes. He was immersed in a warm liquid and surrounded by red light. He- he couldn't breathe! Something was choking him, something was in his throat. He pulled it out. He realized that he was in a bubble, a womb or something. He tried to break the bubble by pushing and tearing with all his strength. He didn't have much strength. Finally he kicked at the bubble and it broke. He sat up, breathing in all the oxygen he could reach. The moisture on his skin evaporated and he was cold.  
  
Surge realized that there were cords in his arms and, to his horror, up his spinal cord. He tried to take them out, but he couldn't. Surge heard a whirring sound from below him and he looked up. What he saw knocked the air out of his lungs. Thousands, maybe billions of red pods just like his. Sticking out of several towers, and as Surge looked at them all, he knew that they were occupied by humans. He knew that in one of these pods lay his mother. One of them held his best friend. His landlady. His fifth grade teacher. Each pod held a human life. He wanted to cry, but couldn't find the energy.  
  
Suddenly, a great flying robot resembling a spider appeared in front of Surge. He tried to stay absolutely still. 'Maybe it will go away,' thought Surge.  
  
But the spider-bot didn't go away. Instead, it picked Surge up and the cords unplugged themselves. It carried Surge away from the pod. Surge shut his eyes. He could feel the cold air on his naked body, and he tried to scream but he couldn't. Then the spider-bot let go and he was falling. Surge refused to open his eyes. 'Wake up, goddammit! You're supposed to wake yourself up before you hit the ground! WAKE UP!'  
  
Surge opened his eyes and he was back in the operating room. It was a dream, a dream. He exhaled, closed his eyes and tried to think of something else. That woman. She was so beautiful. Surge hadn't been able to see her eyes, because of her sunglasses. But he felt her eyes looking at him. Like she was trying to see into his soul. 


End file.
